Under The Apple Tree
by XSerendipity92X
Summary: Prompt - Outlaw Queen in the Enchanted forest. Robin hears that they may be sent back to storybook and confides in Regina about how she thinks Roland might handle the change. Setting info inside. One Shot/Complete


**I seemed to have lost my muse so I'm accepting the first 10 prompts, this being number 1. Also, "Time Turns Flames To Embers" will be updated really soon. **

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Title - Under the Apple Tree

Setting – the missing year / set during 3x19 "A Curious Thing" / Let's just say the Charmings and Regina waited a night before casting the dark curse. Outlaw Queen

It's late at night when Robin finally gives up on sleep entirely. He sits up, running his hand through his short brown hair in exhaustion. He had spent the last few hours tossing and turning, worrying about leaving The Enchanted Forest, about Roland leaving the only world he's ever known.

Snow, David, and Regina had just returned from their quest of finding Glinda, the Good Witch of the South. The moment they were through those castle doors, they called for a meeting. Turns out the only way to stop Zelena was to recast the dark curse where the savior can defeat her with light magic. That meant going to this land without magic in a town he was told called "Storybrooke".

Talking about going back seemed to spark something in the Queen. As he sat beside her at that table. He couldn't help but notice the soft hope in her eyes at the chance of going back to her son, but then he saw something else. He saw fear. He saw grief when the meeting dispersed and she walked out of the room without another word to anyone.

The price Snow White would have to pay would cost her deeply and from what Robin could see, Regina wasn't taking it so well despite their heavy past. The royal couple had become a family to her and even though she got to be with Henry, she was heartbroken for them and the sacrifice they had to make.

It shouldn't have to be this way.

It was decided that the curse would be activated the following night, giving Snow and David just a little more time with each other.

Robin looked over at the small bundle of blankets beside him on the bed. Roland was fast asleep and he reached out, brushing dark curls away from his face and just watching him sleep. He was worried if Roland would be able to handle the changes of moving to an entirely different land.

With these thoughts and worries viscously plaguing his mind, he got up from the bed and walked out into the corridor. He walked along the castle, deep in his worries until he happened to find himself out in the gardens. That was when he saw her, standing under the apple tree. A couple of weeks after their arrival, this tree had just appeared and no one seemed to know who had planted it.

It had to be Snow White or at least she had a hand in this.

"Why are you here?" she asked, the emotional turmoil inside her, barely hidden in her voice. She was tired and she didn't have the energy to completely mask away her true emotions. It was a sleepless night for her as well. She didn't face him and yet she knew it was him.

"I couldn't sleep and I take it you couldn't either," he stated, moving to her side and looking at her. She didn't answer, her eyes fixed on the red apples high up on the branches. The moonlight shinned upon them, lighting up her features and teary eyes.

She's been crying, he realized, but wouldn't dare call her out on it.

"You're thinking of him," he stated instead and she finally looked at him with so much anguish he had the sudden need to hold her, but he refrained himself. They weren't exactly on good terms and he didn't want to make her defensive when this was the first time she's ever let him in. He was seeing the woman behind the cold hard mask and she truly was beautiful. He saw what Snow could see everytime she looked at her. A woman, a mother, who had changed.

"The moment I left him… I just wanted him back and now that it's happening it feels so wrong. My heart is heavy." A tear streamed down her cheek, reflecting in the light of the moon. She turned her face away from him, not wanting him to see her cry.

"I hated her for so long and maybe I would have enjoyed this at one time, but now…" she swallowed the sob threatening to escape. "I didn't want it to be this way," she whispered and he wished she would look at him. She was closing herself up again right before his eyes.

"Snow will get through this…"

"What's keeping you from your slumber thief?" she asked and he knew she had shut down. The emotional despair, the grief, was gone from those dark expressive eyes and her voice was no longer shaking.

"Roland," he sighed, deciding not to push her on opening back up. She was too distraught and vulnerable and he knew better than to push her buttons. He wasn't going to risk being charred to a crisp by those fireballs she often threatened him with when she would reach her limit during their arguments. "I'm worried how he'll cope with moving to this…"

"Storybrooke," Regina supplied with a smirk. She happened to be amused at how unfamiliar he was to the place she had called home.

"Yes, Storybrooke," he murmured. "Do you think Roland will be happy there?"

"Storybrooke, the land it's in, it's nothing like the Enchanted Forest." At the mention of Roland, he could see her cold front crumbling just a bit. She lit up around Roland just as she did with Henry.

She had grown attached to the little boy who insisted on following her everywhere since the day she saved him from that flying monkey. Regina wouldn't admit it but Robin could see how much she's grown to care for him just by the way she spoke to him. The way she looked at him, and the way Roland had made her smile.

"But I think he'll love it as long as he's with you. There's so much for him to see and maybe he could even meet my son," her mind seemed to drift as she thought of Henry again and he couldn't help the small smile of affection for the woman who had given him such a hard time this past year.

"Thank you," he said, taking her hands and turning her so that they were face to face. She finally met his eyes and he could see she hadn't completely shut down as he thought. She was still with him no matter how much it hurt. She let him see her and he was grounding her to the here and now.

"For what?"

"For being so loving to my boy," he said. "I know how painful it is to be around Roland. I know he brings up memories of your own, but you still manage to care for him, to make him feel so loved and special in your presence. I know we have our differences, but I want you to know that I wouldn't take him from you. I trust you with his life."

She stared at him in wonder as if she couldn't understand why he trusted her with his only son. She reached up, her hand on his stubbled cheek. She leaned up, the air silent around them as they stood under that apple tree with the moonlight shinning down on them.

She kissed his other cheek, holding it for a second before pulling away and leaving him alone.


End file.
